Targeting content to individual users has become an area of great importance in consumer computing technologies. Both users and content developers are helping to build momentum for this type of content.
Generally, targeting content to an individual user requires a server that can learn at least some facts about the user or their preferences and interests. Often times this is accomplished using cookies stored on the user's machine that store and record small facts about a user's past usages of the computing device. However, in some instances those facts can include data mined from the computing device itself and include information of a personal nature, such as a user's global positioning system location, home country and zip code, phone number area code, mobile carrier code, mobile country code, parental controls, etc.
Access to users' information is an extremely sensitive subject, and for obvious reasons, operating system developers protect this information from third-party software developers. However, the need and desire for more personalized content is putting pressure on operating system developers to provide access to the sensitive information stored on these devices.